Gathering Darkness by Morgan Rhodes

War brought them together. Love will tear them apart. Alliances form across Mytica and beyond as royals and rebels alike race to hunt down the Kindred—the four elemental crystals that give their owners god-like power. The stakes have never been higher for Magnus and Cleo, who are brought together by a life or death decision that will lock their fates and change the course of the kingdom forever.

4.5 Stars

“Hatred is like fire. It burns the one who harnesses it. It's also extremely hard to see more helpful truths through its flames.”

While I really enjoyed Falling Kingdoms and Rebel Spring, I loved Gathering Darkness. Each installment in the series has gotten better, but Gathering Darkness was in a league of its own. These characters are so complex with so many different allegiances and underlying reasons for each and every one of their actions. There were many times in this book where I was completely caught off guard with what happened. Morgan Rhodes is not afraid to make difficult choices and take the story in a completely different direction than you are expecting.

We also get to meet new characters including Amara and Felix. Right from the beginning, I was weary of both Amara and her brother Ashur. They come from a foreign country and have a ruthless father, who sounds even worse than Gaius. But from the start, I liked Felix. He was helping Jonas so I had no reason to doubt him. We also get to see even more of Alexius and Lucia using her powers.

The characters Morgan Rhodes has constructed are so amazing and intricate. I love that there are so many facets to each character and they are not black and white. There is so much more to their motivations, actions, thoughts, and feelings and Morgan Rhodes is showing us all these different sides.

I also love that we are starting to read from more and more character's perspectives. It is is adding to the massive world that she has created. A world that I cannot wait to dive into again with A Book of Thieves and Spirits and of course Frozen Tides.

My only true complaint with this series right now is the insane amount of love interests for each character. I feel like it is always changing who loves who and who I should root for. Right now I ship Cleo and Magnus so hard that I do not think I can handle if they do not end up together. While I also love Nic, I feel like he is the brother to Cleo not a love interest (plus other things that occur in this book that I do not want to mention because Spoilers).

Wow. The series gets better and better with each book. There is so much going on, that you wouldn't be bored. And don't get me wrong - it's a far way from perfect and there were parts in this which I literally suffered through. But on the other hand, there were moments where I was quite surprised.

If I look back to the first book, so much has changed, so much happened. And probably, it the thing that I like the most about this book. In the space of one chapter a lot of stuff can go on. Looking back to the first book, at first glance much look the same. But so many shifted allegiances and new enemies.

Let's see where it is all going.